Ballymaloe Festival of Food. A Highlight Once Again.

 Ballymaloe Festival of Food. A May Highlight Once Again.

I may have taken that missing canapé!

Delighted to take up an invite to attend the launch event of the just concluded Ballymaloe Festival of Food. The informal event was haled in the Walled Garden Marquee to celebrate the start of a weekend to remember. 

Boatyard Martinis and Ballymaloe canapés were served to kick off. Plenty of other drink alternatives including wine and also that excellent Fierce Mild non-alcoholic beer. No speeches but conversations galore as the weekend buzz stepped up a gear or two. Those canapés, quite a variety of them, were delicious, as you’d expect here!

Cahors, in the south-west of France, is the original home of the Malbec grape, a grape now much associated with South America.  Jules Verhaeghe and Aurore Del Vitto, of Château du Cedre ((Cahors) were in the Drinks Theatre on the opening night of the 2026 Ballymaloe Festival of Food. Their talk and taste showed that their award winning winery can produce Malbec as good as any.

Pascal Rossignol kept the conversation flowing while Colm McCan (the wine teacher at Ballymaloe Cookery School ) and his wife Aoife were busy serving the various samples.

We started with the winery’s Chardonnay (2024) and that certainly impressed as did the Malbec (2023)  that soon followed. Off to a good start and more Malbecs were presented. The Extra-Libre, the sulfur-free Malbec from the Verhaeghe brothers, “A pure expression of Malbec,” says Pascal, “..proves the versatility of this grape variety, showing up with juiciness and high drinkability”.

Then we finished on a delicious note. Again is was a Malbec but a sweet one, great to pair with blue cheese said Aurore. Cahors and Cashel? Sounds good as well! Don’t think I’ve ever had a sweet Malbec previously!

Aurore and Jules

All grapes at Chateau de Cedre are grown organically, biodynamically, sustainably, and there is minimal intervention in the wine making process, with natural filtration and a small amount of sulfites added at bottling. 

Colm and Aoife run the weekend pop-up wine shop in the Grainstore at Ballymaloe and they run the Drinks Theatre events at Ballymaloe which hosts wine and drinks events throughout the year.

We had time as well to wander around the many food stalls in the Big Shed where a demonstration on how to handle gin was in full swing. We were glad to see Ballycotton based Andrea had a stand here. You don’t see many gooseberry jams around nowadays and Andrea’s Kitchen  makes one of the best. We stocked up. 

No shortage of variety as this amazing Festival.

Andrea talking to a visitor

Ballymaloe Festival of Food (launched Friday evening) continues this Saturday and Sunday.

Ballymaloe Festival of Food was launched on Friday evening and continues this Saturday and Sunday. 

The festival is once again packed with cooking demonstrations, pop-up dinners, guided walks, talks, workshops, tastings and conversations, all showcasing the very best in modern Irish and international food. Joleen Cronin's pictures below are a clue to who you might see. All the details here.

Sami Tamimi (Palestinian chef, restaurateur and co-author with Yotam Ottolenghi) and Darina Allen (Ballymaloe Cookery School) getting ready for the Ballymaloe Festival of Food.

Darina Allen (founder, Ballymaloe Cookery School) and Anna Ansari (food writer) picking fresh herbs ahead of the Ballymaloe Festival of Food.

Felicity Cloake (food writer), Anna Ansari (food writer) and Darina Allen (founder, Ballymaloe Cookery School) with a fluffy farmyard chicken ahead of the Ballymaloe Festival of Food.

Darina Allen (right) welcomes visiting chefs and food writers (l to r) Anna Ansari, Felicity Cloake, Helen Goh, and Sami Tamimi to the Ballymaloe Festival of Food.

All pics by Joleen Cronin

Eating and drinking the best of local at the 2025 Ballymaloe Festival of Food. Here’s a sample or two!

Eating and drinking at

 the 2025 Ballymaloe Festival of Food. 

I did it my way! Here’s a sample or two.

As always, there were some amazing chefs and amazing dinners on offer at the 2025 Ballymaloe Festival of Food. With the weather so fine, dining Al Fresco fitted my bill quite well, and I picked dishes from a range of stalls. Fiadha (from Kerry) and their Pulled Pork in a Blaa was a tasty gem. Another enjoyable lunch dish was the La Bolognese, a traditional Italian Ragu made with minced Angus Irish beef from Christian Spaccamonti's IMonsu Market. Catch him at the local Farmers markets including Kinsale, Douglas and Mahon Point. For a garden supper later on, a quartet of Hederman's smoked mackerel fillets did the trick! Plenty of sweet stuff too including from Yum Gelato and, below, the Raspberry Bow Tie from the Grumpy Bakers.

Non Alcoholic drinks are often in the conversation these days. There was even a Festival session about them on Sunday morning. Here's the logic (?) behind the name of this newish one: a beer defined by addition, not subtraction - a special yeast and a trilogy of hops helps unlock that true beer character. The result, an alcohol-free extra pale ale that's intense in flavour (our fierce side) yet mellow enough for any occasion (our mild side). Many Irish non alcoholic beers are not great but this was quite impressive and I bought a pack.

Four years ago, Artisan Sea Salt Harvesters West of Dingle began with more hope than cash (the starting budget was €300). Ballyferriter-based, they hand-harvest their sea salt from the ocean off the Dingle peninsula. Now, they have expanded quite a bit and have five different flavours "which enhance every meal you add it to. We only use natural ingredients in our blends." I've been a fan since day one.

Another small company at the festival was Mad Beans, founded just a few years back by Tipperary couple Martin and Jenny Blanchfield. They say: This dream-turned-reality isn’t just about pouring the perfect cup—it’s about making a real difference. We love coffee (obviously), but we also believe business should be a force for good. That’s why 50% of our profits go straight back into the community." They now offer a Brazilian and a Columbian coffee but it was their Cold Rush, a powerhouse concentrate —refreshing, smooth, bold, and strong - that caught the eye in Ballymaloe, helped no doubt by the warm weather. Looking for recipes for iced coffees? Try their recipe page here.

Leitrim Hill Creamery is a small holding goat farm and creamery in Drumcong, County Leitrim. They make small batch artisanal raw milk cheeses utilising milk from their own herd of goats as well as milk from partner farmers in the region. I haven't opened this pack yet but the taster at Ballymaloe was superb and a useful keep it cool bag clinched the deal!

Hungry Soul from County Clare produces this range of Cream Cheese Alternatives. My favourite was the Garlic and Chive, and I have a pack in the fridge.

Honey is a staple in this house and this particular Wildflower one, rather scarce at present, is a favourite. It is 100% Irish and raw. Galtee Honey Farm is home to 200 colonies of Native Irish Black Honey Bees – a threatened honey bee. It is nestled at the edge of the picturesque Galtee Vee Valley in Tipperary. It’s a three-generation family business, founded by Micheál Mac Giolla Coda in 1970. Now his daughter Aoife and grandchildren work with him – making raw wildflower honey, candles, skincare and food wraps.  

 There were plenty of tours and walks during the festival, and we joined Ballymaloe's head gardener, Mags, who took us on an informative tour of the Ballymaloe Walled Garden. The garden featured everything from cut flowers to forced sea kale, rhubarb, and the more unusual, such as the emerging cherries (above) and the promising peaches (below).